Dukes dig well in win
JMU knocks off UNC-W in straight sets, improves to 6-5
By Jill Yaworski, senior writer
Posted on September 18, 2006

JMU’s Jena Pierson averaged 10 digs per game, as the JMU women’s volleyball team won 3-0 over the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks Saturday, 30-15, 30-19 and 30-23 in Sinclair Gymnasium.
 
The beginning of the first game was a back-and-forth event. Though the Seahawks kept it close, the Dukes never trailed. JMU led 13-10 when junior libero Jena Pierson took serve and started the Dukes on an eight-point run. UNC-W had possession of the ball for one serve before senior right side Hanna Porterfield blocked a Seahawk attack to side-out. With senior right side Bayli Stillwell serving, the Dukes went on a four-point run to lead 26-13. The Dukes took the first game 30-15 on a block error by the Seahawks. Pierson had 12 digs during the game.

JMU took control of the second game early with freshman outside hitter Nicole Fenner putting together an eight-point service run to go up 10-1. Madison never let UNC-W get close the rest of the game, before a kill from Porterfield ended the game at 30-19.

The Dukes had a slow start in the third game, as JMU led 11-9. A strong block and kill by Stillwell helped the Dukes boost the score to 16-9, only to have the Seahawks close the gap 20-19.

“We weren’t as focused as we needed to be,” said JMU coach Disa Garner, who called a timeout at this point. She told her players to bring back the intensity and heightened awareness they had during the first game. 

Garner’s pep talk worked and the Dukes rallied to finally take a firm lead coming off a Stillwell kill from a Pierson dig along the back row. JMU closed the game and match on another kill by Porterfield to take the final game 30-23.

Porterfield had a season-high 12 kills. When combined with Stillwell’s nine kills and junior middle blocker Allyson Halls’ six kills, the Dukes owned a .182 attack percentage for the match, compared to the Seahawks’ -.057 percent.

“We knew the middle blockers carried the [UNC-W] team,” said Halls. “So we focused on shutting them down.”

Pierson’s 31-dig performance during the match trailed her career high of 36, which occurred during a five-game loss to Rutgers. Pierson’s previous average was 6.06 digs per game, which ranked her 14th in the nation. After Saturday’s performance, it increased to 6.33 digs per game.

“To be having Jena digging as many balls is excellent and a great help for us when added to our blocking skills as a team,” Garner said.

Said Pierson, “We can beat any team in our conference with the talent that we have on our team. We just have to believe it.”

On Tuesday, JMU faces in-state rival Liberty.

“The match will be used to sharpen up the skills we need to work on,” Garner said. “We’ll use this match to help vault us into the weekend to make sure we’re really firing on all cylinders in our matches against VCU and William & Mary.”

However, both matches will be challenging for the Dukes.

“The William & Mary and JMU match is always a dog fight no matter if it’s home or away, and VCU won the CAA conference last year,” Garner said.